Download or read book Cutting Medicaid written by Dee Mahan and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently, congressional Republicans have offered a wide array of proposals that would significantly cut the Medicaid program. These proposals have come in different forms, including a proposal to convert the program to a block grant with much less federal funding, straightforward cuts in the program, and global caps on spending. The latest proposal enables the states to significantly reduce Medicaid eligibility and enrollment. As a nation, reducing health care costs over the long term is an important part of reducing the deficit. However, that needs to be done in a thoughtful, rational, sustainable way that addresses underlying health care costs, rather than taking an approach that just shifts health care costs onto states, seniors and people with disabilities, and America's families. Unfortunately, many of the proposals on the table today take the latter approach and do so in a way that would radically erode Medicaid's safety net. That would hurt millions of seniors, people with disabilities, their families, and businesses, and it would damage the long-term care infrastructure for anyone needing that level of care. For more than 16 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities, Medicaid is critical right now. The long-term care coverage that Medicaid provides is the only avenue they have for getting the long-term care they need. And, for more than 2.8 million of them, Medicaid makes the difference between living in the community and living in an institution. Rather than trying to reduce the deficit by gutting the program people rely on, a better approach would be to undertake policy changes to rein in health care spending. The Affordable Care Act lays the foundation for that with programs that explore ways to pay providers for results, to better manage long-term chronic care, and to make Medicare and Medicaid work better together. Instead of taking an ax to the health care programs that millions depend on, effective implementation of the Affordable Care Act is a better solution for seniors, people with disabilities, their families, and all the rest of us.